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Destination anywhere

March 12, 2010

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By: Julie Clare

MD

Clear Communications Ltd

“I want a B2B PR campaign,” says the prospective client. Fine, that’s great. So we go in with the creds to have an initial meeting on objectives and audiences. The client talks a lot about being a ‘thought leader’ and ownership – all of course perfectly valid.

But it’s perfectly possible to get caught up in discussing tactics and mechanics then go away without ever actually teasing out from the client what the glossy new PR campaign is supposed to be delivering to the business. But if clear objectives are not identified at the beginning, the results from any campaign are going to be hit and miss. You need to pick your destination before choosing your vehicle.

It doesn’t make sense to start spending any budget before understanding the business needs. It’s only from looking at the heart of the business that it’s possible to properly understand audiences, routes to market, market segmentation and build up a true picture of what is needed to support the brand. And it’s only from these foundations that it’s possible to deliver successfully and build a long term, trusted relationship with a client.

Maybe there are some agencies that charge off and come back with a neat little proposal without going through this process. It’s perfectly possible to generate pages and pages of nice little press cuttings, but without this doing a thing for the brand or the company. Meaningful results which get in front of the right people at the right time only come from true engagement with the business.